History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps HoP 470 Gary Hatfield on Descartes' Meditations
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May 25, 2025 In this discussion, Gary Hatfield, the Seibert Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania and a foremost expert on Descartes' Meditations, dives deep into the intricacies of Cartesian thought. He juxtaposes Descartes' philosophy with Aristotelian views, revealing a seismic shift in knowledge and reality. Hatfield sheds light on Descartes' use of doubt and certainty, particularly in the famous 'Cogito, ergo sum.' The podcast also explores the profound influence of Descartes' work on metaphysics and natural science, encouraging further inquiry into philosophical ideas.
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Meditations as Physics' Foundation
- Descartes wrote the Meditations as metaphysical foundations for his physics, aiming to justify his new natural philosophy.
- Publicly framed as proofs of God and soul's immortality, it covertly aimed to undercut Aristotelian physics.
Opposing Scholastic Aristotelianism
- Descartes opposed the scholastic Aristotelians' resemblance theory, substantial forms, and sensory-based epistemology.
- He proposed non-resemblance sensory qualities and explained natural phenomena mechanistically via particles' size, shape, and motion.
Meditator as Spiritual Exercise
- The meditator in Meditations is a literary figure distinct from Descartes, embodying a spiritual exercise structure.
- This exercise guides readers from sensory doubt to pure intellectual cognition, paralleling Augustinian meditation's 'fleshless eye' concept.
